Leading Mexico’s fishing industry towards a sustainable future

It’s early morning in the Gulf of California and an unusual rescue operation is underway.

Standing waist-deep in water and rummaging through mud, women from the Almejera de Santa Cruz fishing cooperative stopped a commercial dredging operation to save a jar of chocolate clams. Too small to harvest, women move them to a safer part of the lagoon until they reach maturity.

“I approached the workers and asked: “Where are your permits? Do you have an environmental impact study? says Yanette Castro, president of the women’s cooperative. “They were reluctant, but eventually they allowed us to go in and rescue the clams.”

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

It’s something of a quiet revolution for women in the town of Yanette, located on the coastal lagoon of Altata, Sinaloa. They have long contributed to the fishing economy, but their efforts are rarely recognized.

And it is women, she says, who are most interested in responsible fisheries management. “Part of being a woman is that we naturally care more about things, whether it’s the future well-being of our family or nature.”

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

In the town of Yanetta, fishing is a family affair. A third generation fisherman, both of her grandmothers worked in the sector. One collected shellfish, the other repaired nets and processed the catch.

Today at the lagoon, Yanetta’s 12-year-old daughter Violeta helps measure shellfish. Her eldest daughter Vanesa, who is studying to become an environmental engineer, helps record the data.

Men generally prefer to catch higher-value fish further out to sea, she said, “which gives women a bit of an advantage (with shellfish) because there’s not as much competition.”

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

In 2017, Yanet and other local fishermen took part in a training program organized by the Environmental Defense Fund. The program, supported by the Walton Family Foundation, is part of the foundation’s strategy to support inclusive and sustainable fisheries while ensuring that fishing communities remain economically active.

As part of this program, Yanette decided to create a women’s fishing cooperative, one of the first in Mexico. “I wanted women to have legal access to fishing permits. I wanted them to start getting paid for the work they did for free. It is vital that we place real value on the role that women play in these fisheries.”

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

She founded the Almejera de Santa Cruz fishing cooperative. Today it includes “nine powerful women” who fish for bivalves in their lagoon. Yanette also helped other women start two more local cooperatives. As a result, the government has now officially recognized a total of 33 women as fishermen.

One of the biggest obstacles to creating a women’s cooperative was convincing women that they could formally organize.

“When we first formed, many of the more experienced women said, ‘I can’t believe women can be part of a co-op, why would I do that?’ They now see that by joining, they can access a different lifestyle and more opportunities.”

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

“The responsibilities of running a co-op are significant,” Yanette says. “At first I asked the men how they ran things, but then I realized that the men themselves didn’t have many answers.”

“I didn’t want to put all my responsibility on an accountant, so I do most of the work myself—requesting permits, setting catch limits, filing tax returns and legal documents, and looking for capacity-building opportunities for our members. ” Fishermen did not want to participate in biological monitoring of shellfish shores, since it was not an exciting and paid activity. But the women of the Yanetta Cooperative have not shied away and are now responsible for collecting valuable data that is used by NGOs and fisheries managers to determine the health of the shellfish fishery.

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

Membership in a cooperative provides women with a number of benefits. Because they are officially recognized as fishermen, each woman is eligible to receive an annual cash payment from Bienpesca, a Mexican government program that provides financial support to small-scale fishermen to increase production and improve the living conditions of their families.

But challenges remain in renewing fishing permits and obtaining fair prices for the catch. “A fair price is what women want most,” says Yanette.

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

As Janette has become more confident in her ability to lead others, her advocacy for fishermen has grown regionally and now nationally.

After attending a 2018 panel on the social impact of small-scale fishing, she and other local fishermen realized they needed to speak out and portray their sector in a more positive light. “I wondered why the government guy who knew nothing about fishing got all the applause (from the group). Now the government speaks for us, but it doesn’t know us that well. We need to be the voice of the fishing sector,” she says.

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

During the pandemic, Yanette and three other artisanal fishermen launched Trazando el Rumbo de la Pesca on Facebook. They didn’t know how to turn on the computer, but were determined to learn how to keep fishing communities connected during lockdown.

Trazando el Rumbo de la Pesca then focused on fishermen’s efforts to protect the environment and provided fishermen with a platform to become the heroes of their own stories. They are now considering launching a monthly radio program to reach even the most remote fishing communities where NGOs cannot reach.

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

Yanette’s influence extends beyond her fishing community in Sinaloa. She now co-ordinates the first national network of women working in the fishing sector, called Sustainable Tide or Marea Sostenible in Spanish, with four other women fishermen. They reflect the efforts of her colleagues in Chile.

“The Chileans inspired us. They have been working for a long time and have been successful in changing legislation that recognizes women on the same level as men in the fishing sector,” she says. In May 2024, Marea Sostenible held her first meeting with 130 women from 13 coastal estates in Mexico. Their goal is to attract representatives from all 17 riparian states.

Yanette is primarily focused on promoting gender equality in the fishing sector, as well as creating a better future for all fishermen in her community, men and women. “My dad used to say, ‘Hey, let’s go fishing,’ without thinking about the field. Fishing is part of our culture and anyone can do it.”

Photo credit: Luis Astorga

To ensure that fishing remains a traditional and dignified way of life, she says the operation today remains family-led. “I do all this for my children,” she says.

“When I was growing up, the whole community would walk at low tide to collect shellfish – men, women, grandmothers, children. But since there were too many shellfish, we had to go further and dive for them.

When Violeta was born, there were no chocolate clams in the lagoon. But now, after a decade of community-led protection, the shellfish are back. For me, working for my fishing community – in the sun and in the water – is not a sacrifice.”